Reading program signs up new tutors

A 100-day effort to recruit new reading tutors for adults in Guilford County exceeded its goal of 100 new volunteers, according to an announcement from the nonprofit Reading Connections Inc.

The second-annual "100 Tutors in 100 Days" campaign that launched in November resulted in 136 new volunteer inquiries, said exeuctive director Jennifer Gore. Training for the new tutors has begun, and those tutors will be placed with adult learns seeking help with basic reading and writing skills, GED preparation, employment skills and other literacy needs.

About one in five adults in Guilford County lacks basic literacy skills, Gore said, and another 25 percent can't read a a high school level. That dramatically reduces their employment prospects, and odds of escaping poverty.

“We are grateful to the community for their response to our need for tutors," she said. "Because of their action, we are able to serve more students.”